The Taoiseach promised Government action on the increasing number of road traffic accidents.

"I will discuss the matter today with the Minister for the Environment (Mr Dempsey) and see precisely what we can do on that issue," Mr Ahern said. He added that a number of reports, including some from the Garda, had pointed out that speeding was now the major cause of road accidents.

"Obviously, if 20 people had died in a little over half a week by any other means, it would be a major issue of national concern. We do not seem to express the same outrage when it is on the roads."

A minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect to Mr Michael Enright, a former Democratic Left senator, who was among those who died in the twocar crash on the main Dublin road north of Arklow, Co Wicklow, on Wednesday night. There were expressions of sympathy from all sides of the House.

Mr Ahern extended sympathy to Democratic Left and to Mr Enright's wife and daughters on his "sudden and tragic" death. While he did not know him personally, he knew of his work as a councillor in Wexford and with the Teachers' Union of Ireland, he said. He also expressed sympathy with the relatives of the other road accident victims.

The leader of Democratic Left, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, described Mr Enright as "a very dear friend and party colleague," adding that he would be a great loss to public life in the State.

He urged the Government to undertake a fundamental review of the manner in which it was seeking to prevent road accidents and death.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said that he had appointed Mr Enright to the Seanad and was deeply affected by his death.

There was a need to understand why there was speeding on the roads, what drove people to put their own lives at risk and what inner forces in their minds were causing that outward expression of desperation and risk-taking and literally turning their face against the world in that way.

"It is something that is evidence, I think, of a fairly profound psychological problem that is being faced by a lot of young people," Mr Bruton said.